I enjoy a good love story. I’m talking romance, not necessarily sex. Perhaps I love them even more after all these years because I haven’t known much romance in my life. I’m a romantic person who had very little opportunity to express that side of me, in either gender role.

The Bible has a number of beautiful love stories. Some of them also had a bit of tarnish on them. The love that Jacob had for Rachel is both beautiful and tarnished.

The eldest servant of Abraham, Jacob’s grandfather, was sent to Padanaram to find a wife for Jacob’s father, Isaac. That wife, Rebecca, would favor Jacob over his twin brother, Esau (the elder brother by a matter of a few moments). It was Rebecca who also suggested that Jacob personally go to Padanaram to find his own wife. The journey would also help Jacob escape the wrath of Esau, the one that he cheated out of a birthright and the best blessing.

It was quite a journey for Jacob, a man heretofore content to stay in the camp and dwell in tents. Most significant of all, he has a direct encounter with the Lord at Bethel and vows that if the Lord takes care of him on this journey, the Lord will be Jacob’s God.

This sets the stage for Jacob to arrive at the land of his grandfather’s people. And when he arrives, the first woman he lays eyes upon his Rachel, not unlike Abraham’s servant encountering Rebecca as the first woman he approaches. And both encounters take place at sources of water, a most precious commodity to the sheep ranchers of the Middle East.

At this time in her life, Rachel is the keeper of her family’s flock, a shepherdess. As she approaches the well, Jacob is conversing with the men about the proper procedures of sheep (cattle) ranching.

And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them. And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep. – Genesis 29:7-8

Notice that the men of that place are not rolling away the stone. They are waiting for “they” to do it for them.

But when Rachel arrives with her flocks, Jacob himself rolls away the stone from the well and waters the sheep. (This is the reverse of the encounter between Abraham’s servant and Rebecca. At that time, Rebecca gave the servant a drink and also watered the servant’s camels.)

Having impressed Rachel with his gallant gesture, Jacob goes to Rachel and kisses her. (Okay, I’m enhancing the text here a bit, romantic that I am. But he did kiss her.) Then he identifies himself as family.

This is where the love story of Jacob and Rachel begins. And here is where it quickly gets sullied. Jacob’s Uncle Laban, father of Rachel, gets involved. Perhaps Laban has gotten wilier in his older years. Perhaps he realizes he is dealing this time with a suitor, not a servant. Perhaps both. But it soon becomes clear that Jacob, the conniver and supplanter, is from the same gene pool as Laban. However, Laban is more experienced and Jacob at first appears to have met his match.

Jacob’s bargaining skills are blinded by the stars in his eyes for Rachel. He agrees to work for seven years for Laban to obtain Rachel’s hand in marriage. And Jacob’s love for Rachel is so strong that seven years seem like only a few days for him. Ladies, could a suitor be any more devoted than that?

Here’s where Laban gets the better of Jacob. Apparently there was no formal wedding ceremony in those days where the bride and groom stood together before someone to marry them. As a wealthy man and father of the bride, Laban has a feast and then delivers the bride to the groom for their wedding night. But lo and behold, when Jacob awakes the next morning, it is Rachel’s older sister, Leah, next to him. Laban wants to marry off his oldest daughter first, and he tricks Jacob to do so.

Jacob works seven more years for Rachel, although this time Laban doesn’t make Jacob wait more than a week. Apparently Leah was entitled to a conjugal week.

Now we have the advantage of hindsight to know how the story turns out. After another seven years, Jacob wants to take his growing family and return to his home in Canaan. This time Laban is in the position of desperate bargainer. For fourteen years, he has seen how the Lord has blessed whatever Jacob does. He doesn’t want to lose Jacob and that blessing on his ranching operation. So now Jacob can name his price. And at first it looks like Jacob is a poor negotiator once again. But it gives Jacob the opportunity to fleece Laban this time. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun.) And soon, Jacob has accumulated great and healthy flocks of his own to go back home with. And when he sees that Laban and his sons are starting to turn against him, Jacob decides that it is time to get out of Dodge.

Through all these machinations, Jacob eventually fathers the twelve sons who become heads of the tribes of Israel. And on the way back to meet up with Esau once again, Jacob has another encounter with the Lord (a wrestling match this time: how many people would be more afraid of their brother than the creator of all things?) that leads to him being given the name by which the nation would be known: Israel. Regardless of why God chose to have things happen this way, they happened.

It was by Leah that Levi was born, becoming the tribe of priests. Leah’s fourth son, Judah, named for her praise of the Lord, would become the ruling tribe. When peace finally comes, all the people shall be gathered unto him.

It was by Rachel that Joseph was born. He was the one who emerged from prison to save his people and forgive his brothers.

Almost all the pieces of the picture, the foreshadows, are present in this fascinating, imperfect love story. But it never comes to full fruition, never comes together in one person: not until Jesus, the lion of Judah, the son of David, the Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, the Alpha and the Omega from everlasting to everlasting.

Jesus is the Passover lamb, the perfect lamb without spot or blemish, whose sacrifice once forever saves the people from their sins. But He is also the Good Shepherd. His sheep hear His voice and follow Him.

Jesus is the priest after the order of Melchizedek, without beginning or end. But He also sits at the right hand of God the father. The scepter never departs from His hand and He shall be the righteous judge of all.

Jacob, in fathering twelve sons, was in a sense the creator of the nation. He is another picture that points to Jesus:

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. – Colossians 1:16-17

In addition to being the sheep, the shepherd (Rachel), the priest (Levi), the ruler (Judah), the savior (Joseph) who also preached to the spirits in prison (1st Peter 3:19), the sacrificial love (Jacob for Rachel) that gave His life for us while we were yet sinners and at enmity with God, the way to the Father (Bethel) and the creator (Jacob/Israel), Jesus is also the life-giving water in the story. Jesus is the living water: those who drink of Him shall never thirst. Water is also an image associated with the Word of God. Jesus is the word made flesh to have free course: those who partake of it will never hunger.

Furthermore, Jesus is the light who has come into the world. Whether as the pillar of fire by night or in the burning bush (for example), it was always God who brought the light to the scene. This is also true figuratively, as when God enlightened Joseph with the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams. Nothing physical in the story of Jacob, Rachel and the children of Israel could be a foreshadowing of the light that illuminates the darkness.

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. – Isaiah 9:2,6-7

In order for there to be the victory of Easter, there had to be the hope that was born of Christmas.

When Jesus hung on the cross of Calvary, the sun was darkened. Earthquakes tore the veil of the temple in two and opened the ground, including graves that saw their occupants come to life. A couple of days later, another earthquake rolled the stone away. No person had to do so this time.

As dawn’s light filled the sky on that Resurrection Sunday, so too did the Gospel message have valid proof. “An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.”

The stone has been rolled away. It is time to water the sheep. It will be time to water the sheep until Jesus returns. As Christians, we are to be the clay pots to carry the water to the troughs. Whatever else our lot in life may be, this is our first responsibility, our great commission.

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. – Mark 16:15

The pastor of my church who gave the sermon this Easter morning, chose the account from John 20:1-18. The accounts in all four Gospels are wonderful, but this one gives more detail about Mary Magdalene’s activity during that Resurrection morning, including her encounter with Jesus.

I read these verses a few weeks earlier as part of my personal Bible study. It moved me in a way it never had before.

First Mary sees that the tomb is empty. She runs to tell Peter and John about it. They run to the tomb and she returns there as well. Peter and John also see that the tomb is empty. Still trying to sort it out, the men return home. But Mary stays behind at the tomb. That is where we find her when we get to verse 11.

But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. – John 20:11-18

When I read these words a few weeks ago, I started crying along with Mary. In a way that had never been so clear before, I understood how painful it was for her when she could not find Jesus. Jesus meant the world to her. And He means the world to me. He has for close to 25 years.

But for the first time since I was saved, I could relate to the idea of losing Jesus. While I knew from Scripture that God would never fail or forsake me, what if I could no longer see Him because sin was blinding me to Him. Some of the Christians I had told about my transition had claimed that this had happened. What if they were right? And in the months leading up to my decision to explore transition, I was being pulled in sinful directions like never before. There were many days I was so ashamed that I wanted to hide from God.

I am at peace about these things now. But the memory is still fresh. So as Mary wept while she searched for her Deliverer in vain, I wept right along with her. Perhaps during those moments when she shed those precious tears, she was thinking about how horrible her life would still be if she had never met Jesus and He hadn’t had mercy on her and changed her life for all eternity. It was part of my thoughts as I wept with her.

First the angels ask her why she is weeping. As soon as she answers, she turns around and sees a man who asks her the same question. But then he asks a second question: Who are you seeking?

At first, she doesn’t recognize Jesus. How often in life do we look for something and don’t recognize it when it is right in front of us? Perhaps she was only looking for a body, not a live person. One reason we miss out on what we are seeking is that it didn’t come in the way or form we wanted or were expecting.

In that case, she would not have been focusing on this man. Her eyes might have been darting around looking here and there for clues as the morning light grew brighter. Was there a place where a body had been dragged along the ground or some grass disturbed? Perhaps the grave robbers became frightened and dropped the body nearby?

But then Jesus, having compassion on this woman who had become such a faithful and devoted follower as soon as He saved her, brings her consternation to an end. All He needs to do is say one word: Mary. Her name.

The text says that immediately she “turned herself” in response. I interpret this to mean that up to that point, she was not totally engaged with this person. But upon hearing her own name spoken by the Master as no one else ever did, she gives Him her full attention. And immediately she recognizes Him.

Dear reader, if you are saved, you can relate to this. At some point in your life, Jesus called you by name, your spiritual eyes were opened and you recognized Him as your Lord and Savior.

When I reached this point in the text, I really started bawling. Because at that moment, the last remaining spiritual question I had about my transition had been answered. My new name symbolizes my transition. At some point during my transition, I had prayed that God would tell me by what name He knows me: my birth name or the name I chose for myself. Until a few weeks ago, I still didn’t have an answer.

When I read that verse, the reaction in my spirit told me the answer. It was the reason I went from weeping to bawling. My joy was too great for words. God, my loving Abba Father, called me by name … LOIS: I am His daughter, Lois. He still loves me as I am with His abiding love. And I love Him more than ever.

God bless you with the understanding that an empty tomb is the reason you can still find Jesus,

In a future post, I will be describing some of my favorite sports moments. But I am going to include one of them in this post because it fits the topic. It was actually an accomplishment that I did. It happened in basketball, which is ironic because it is probably my worst sport. I am short (about 5’4½”), don’t handle the ball particularly well, and I don’t have a sense of the field of play the way I do in football or soccer. But there is one very important fact about this event: I didn’t see it happen.

My friends must have been desperate for an extra player when they asked me to join them for a half court pickup game in the Teagle gym. During the game, one of my teammates was the last person to touch the ball as it was heading out of bounds in the corner to the left of the basket. I was the closest to the ball and unchallenged for it.

I have the quick reflexes of a hockey goalie, and they kicked in as I closed in on the ball. At the last possible second before it or I would be out of bounds, I dove and got my hands under the ball. The only way I could save it was to fling it upwards in the general direction of the court, hoping one of my taller and stronger teammates could get to it first. Then I hit the floor and skidded, coming to rest out of bounds against the curtain that separated our court from the next one.

As I shook off the impact of hitting the floor and got to my feet, it was strangely quiet. The first thing I saw was that everyone was standing around. I assumed the ball went out of bounds again, and they were waiting for me to get back onto the court before the inbounds play. They stood there with dumbfounded expressions. One of my teammates told me, “You swished it.”

I accused them of kidding me, but they all insisted it was true. Even the guys on the other team agreed that it went in. And the game resumed with us having one more basket than before.

I eventually believed them for three reasons. First, they didn’t have enough time to get their stories straight. Second, a group of guys that age are not good enough actors to keep a straight face under those circumstances. But the most important was that the guys on the other team were hostile witnesses. And they were making statements against interest. Confirming that it went in hurt their chances of winning. So I am firmly convinced it happened, even if I didn’t see it.

Now we will go to a different kind of court, one where witnesses are examined and evidence is weighed.

Here is a summary of the story of Jesus’s resurrection and the empty tomb He left behind. First, Joseph of Arimathaea persuades Pilate to release His body to him. He wraps His body in linen cloth and puts it in a new tomb he had recently created by hollowing out a cave into rock. Nicodemus put certain spices on the linen cloths according to their burial customs. They are followed to the tomb by some of the women who had been ministering to Jesus and His disciples.

The disciples of Jesus are disheartened, fearful and in hiding. They are supposed to stay in Jerusalem for the Passover. But they expect the authorities to find them and arrest them at any time.

Meanwhile, the Jewish authorities remember (far better than His disciples did) that Jesus had said He would rise from the dead. They go to Pilate and ask him to give them a Roman guard. A Roman military guard was made up of 4 to 16 men, deployed in a square formation, and were known for their ability to hold off a far larger force. Pilate grants their request. The guard goes to the tomb, puts a Roman seal on it and position themselves in front of it.

The day after the Sabbath, some of the women go to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus with more spices. As they walk there they wonder who will be able to roll the large stone away from the tomb so they can do this work. When they arrive, they find that the stone has been moved away and they encounter an angel who tells them that Jesus is risen and is not there. Eventually Peter and John arrive and find that there is no body in the cave, but the linen burial cloths have been left there.

Then Jesus appears to many people during this time. The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the church in Corinth, gives an excellent summary of these events.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. – 1st Corinthians 15:3-8 [Note: Cephas is the Greek name for the Apostle Peter.]

At this point a number of questions might come to mind. For instance, what revived the spirits of a disheartened group of disciples who had good reason to believe their cause was defeated with the death of their leader? When He was arrested and crucified, they were still struggling to understand much of His teaching, especially His purpose and objective. What enabled them to turn a movement in a small area of a conquered region, into a force that swept through the whole world, despite its initial leaders being a small group of men with relatively little education (except for Paul), influence, power or funds? Furthermore, how do we know that Paul’s statements are true?

If we recall the evidence regarding my amazing basketball shot, some of it applies here as well. The followers of Christ, in spreading their witness about Jesus, were speaking statements against their own personal interest. While many Jews became added to the number of followers in the early years after the ascension of Jesus, the Jewish leadership never accepted that Jesus was the Messiah. They vigorously persecuted their Jewish brothers and sisters who followed Jesus. Indeed, it was as part of that mission that Paul (at that time called Saul of Tarsus) was heading to Damascus. Until the vision and message from Christ on that road to Damascus led him to convert, Paul’s actions against the followers of Christ included imprisonment, voting for their death at trials, subjecting them to whatever punishments were allowed under the Law in synagogues throughout the region, even in areas distant from Jerusalem, and forcing some to recant their beliefs.

And while the Romans at first may have seen this situation as an internal dispute between the Jews which did not concern them unless it threatened the peace, that changed as the number of followers continued to grow, especially when non-Jews, even Romans, began to convert in significant numbers. Teaching and witnessing about a king named Jesus who is the son of the one true God, threatened the religious customs of the Roman Empire and the authority of Caesar.

Thus the persecution of Christ’s followers multiplied greatly. The book of Acts records the martyrdom of Stephan and the Apostle James. The historical record shows that all of the Apostles except John (who died of old age in exile) died a martyr’s death. That record further shows that Christians were routinely sent to death in the Coliseum and that Nero blamed the Christians for the fire he set that burned Rome. It took three centuries before Christianity was officially accepted by Roman authorities. Until then, it wasn’t very safe to be found proclaiming the Gospel.

The following is a link to an article by Josh McDowell that gives an extensive list of evidence, facts, proofs, counter-arguments to the claims of skeptics, and evaluations by historians on the validity of the testimony which supports the existence of Jesus and His historical resurrection after His crucifixion. Historical accounts by Jews and Romans who opposed Christianity (i.e., hostile witnesses) are included in the article with explanation why it is strong evidence. There is also archeological evidence that shows that Paul’s letter quoted above was circulated at a time when it can be expected that many of the people who saw Christ after His resurrection were indeed alive. And many other points are made, and made better than I could hope to do. And yes, at the end of his article, a challenge is made as to what you believe.

Why is all of this so important? A little further in 1st Corinthians, Paul explains it: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. (1st Corinthians 15:14)

Jews and Christians agree that God has promised a Messiah for His people. The disagreement that divides is over the identity of the Messiah. Paul, a most learned Pharisee before following Christ, has stated it clearly: if Jesus is not risen from the dead, then He is not the Messiah; He is not the Christ. He is just another false claimant to the title. There would be no need to continue to follow His teachings. Instead, all should pray that the Messiah would come soon.

Confronted by such an important spiritual question, I must conclude based on all that has been set forth in this series of posts, that we have reliable eyewitness accounts of people who have seen God. In times of His choosing, God reveals Himself in physical form to people. At other times, the effects of God’s presence in the world are evident.

I have left the most important witness for last: God Himself on two occasions. In three of the four Gospels, Jesus takes only Peter, James and John with Him to a hilltop where His appearance is transfigured and He converses with Moses and Elijah. At the end of that event, a voice comes out of a cloud and calls Jesus His “beloved Son”. Also, those same three Gospels testify that when Jesus is baptized, a voice comes out of heaven with that same description of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit also comes upon Jesus at that time. (In John’s Gospel, it is also mentioned that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus when He was baptized. This Gospel quotes John the Baptist bearing witness at this time that Jesus is the Son of God.)

On the first occasion, three people witnessed. On the second occasion, an untold number of witnesses were there, whoever had come to be baptized at that time. And many people from all around were coming to be baptized. They heard a disembodied voice that could not be manufactured with the technology of that time.

Will you follow God? If so, then understand that to truly follow, it matters little that God is on your side; it is far more important that you endeavor to be on God’s side. What other way is there to follow?